Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Day 3 (though I walk through the valley of the shadows)
Today is the day we travel through the mountains. I thought that at some point during our travels we will hit snow. This may be it. The weather has a definite chill. We eat, or I should say I eat two packages of peaches and cream instant oatmeal. It doesn't agree with Bax's stomach so he only has one bite. We pack up camp and head to Nimpo Lake for our first stop. Bax has toast while I enjoy a cup of coffee. When deciding what to pack for the bike, a coffee maker (even a compact one) didn't make the list. I now take my coffee on the road sometimes hours after waking up, this is routine I won't adjust to soon.
We pass quickly through Anahim Lake, fill up the bike and head to the hills. The clouds are ominous and I am not looking forward to traveling through the mountains in the rain. It get's even better and just as it starts to rain the road turns to dirt. It is filled with small potholes of water and muck on the edges. I try to negotiate between the washboard of the potholes and the edge of the road. I wonder if it would have been a good idea to get some percodan or other morphine derivatives for this trip. My mind wonders about every worse case scenario, having to jam down my foot to avoid a slip and telescoping my femur. It is reassuring to read in Jupiter that Simon did the same thing. For him he concluded that these thoughts were more indicative of one's pre-existing inner anxiety's. Once I get the negative thoughts out of my mind the travels go well, just slow and somewhat cold. Instead of snow, we hit sleet. The bike stays together. After about 1/2 hour we settle into a groove. I am less tense in my forearms and shoulders as I gauge the road and hope for no unexpected large potholes or thick mud. For the most part the road is very solid, it is just covered in muck for the first inch. The rain is not continous just annoying. We start "the hill" without much fanfare, just one warning sign about the grade. We are half way down before I realize that this is really it. We have our prepacked lunch just before the last hill. The sun is out and the view is enormous. We have arrived into the Bella Coola valley.
We start to accelerate quickly when we hit the smooth pavement. The only thing that slows us down is when we lose half our load. I guess that the rattling of the gravel road loosened the load and it was waiting for some wind to blow it free. We find all of our packs, repack and continue on a little more conservative this time. We cruise around town and settle into a econo campsite. The advantage of this place is the owner is friendly and it is within walking distance of town. We find a reasonable spot at the end of the large uneven lawn on the banks of the Bella Coola river.
We pass quickly through Anahim Lake, fill up the bike and head to the hills. The clouds are ominous and I am not looking forward to traveling through the mountains in the rain. It get's even better and just as it starts to rain the road turns to dirt. It is filled with small potholes of water and muck on the edges. I try to negotiate between the washboard of the potholes and the edge of the road. I wonder if it would have been a good idea to get some percodan or other morphine derivatives for this trip. My mind wonders about every worse case scenario, having to jam down my foot to avoid a slip and telescoping my femur. It is reassuring to read in Jupiter that Simon did the same thing. For him he concluded that these thoughts were more indicative of one's pre-existing inner anxiety's. Once I get the negative thoughts out of my mind the travels go well, just slow and somewhat cold. Instead of snow, we hit sleet. The bike stays together. After about 1/2 hour we settle into a groove. I am less tense in my forearms and shoulders as I gauge the road and hope for no unexpected large potholes or thick mud. For the most part the road is very solid, it is just covered in muck for the first inch. The rain is not continous just annoying. We start "the hill" without much fanfare, just one warning sign about the grade. We are half way down before I realize that this is really it. We have our prepacked lunch just before the last hill. The sun is out and the view is enormous. We have arrived into the Bella Coola valley.
We start to accelerate quickly when we hit the smooth pavement. The only thing that slows us down is when we lose half our load. I guess that the rattling of the gravel road loosened the load and it was waiting for some wind to blow it free. We find all of our packs, repack and continue on a little more conservative this time. We cruise around town and settle into a econo campsite. The advantage of this place is the owner is friendly and it is within walking distance of town. We find a reasonable spot at the end of the large uneven lawn on the banks of the Bella Coola river.
# posted by bax or dad @ 5:15 PM 
